Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Grows Position in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 12.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,592 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,191 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $2,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EVRG. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Evergy during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. National Pension Service acquired a new position in Evergy during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Evergy during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Colonial Trust Co SC acquired a new position in Evergy during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank lifted its stake in Evergy by 5,983.3% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 730 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Evergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group raised Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup increased their price target on Evergy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Evergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $78.00 price target on Evergy and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.19.

Evergy Trading Up 0.1%

EVRG opened at $67.99 on Friday. Evergy, Inc. has a one year low of $52.10 and a one year high of $70.36. The company has a market cap of $15.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.38, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.55. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.45.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.26%.

Evergy Company Profile

Evergy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in the United States. The company generates electricity through coal, landfill gas, uranium, and natural gas and oil sources, as well as solar, wind, other renewable sources. It serves residences, commercial firms, industrials, municipalities, and other electric utilities.